On The Way To Greatness
by Infinity Wizard
Summary: AU One-Shot. Having defeated Chazz and moved up to Obelisk Blue, Bastion finally has the chance to really prove himself. The Duel Off to decide who represents the academy in The School Duel is here. It's Bastion VS Jaden at last. But can Bastion achieve true greatness without compromising who he is? Will he be a champion, or just a usual snobby Obelisk Blue student?


**First one-shot ever ironically enough. This is actually a sort of test in a sense for a story idea I came up. Wherein we follow Bastion during his time at Duel Academy, but he has a sense of Déjà vu and seems to at least subconsciously recognise that he's done all this before. He also now has a stronger resolve and willingness to rise to the top and be the best. His subconscious knowledge of canon allows him to alter certain things that happened as a result too and make things better for himself. In this case, one change to canon would be him moving up to Obelisk after beating Chazz. I've added a bit of Bastion's manga character into this too. Maybe this is a stupid idea and I'm wasting my time? Either way, it was nice to write. I haven't written anything really for a while and wanted to do a one-shot to flex my writing muscles before going back to finish a series. Hope you all at least get a little something from this. Maybe you won't, maybe you will. We'll see I guess. If you have any questions about this concept, just ask me. Also, the subplot with the journalist trying to get dirt on the academy doesn't come up here since we're sticking to the importance of Bastion. Since Bastion doesn't get a lick of this subplot, we don't either in this chapter.**

 **Read and Review or whatever is my motto or something and I'm sticking with it. But in reality review if you feel like it. Leave some feedback if you want. Tell me if I'm any good at writing still or not I dunno. Just hopefully you enjoy this maybe. Again, we'll see. I'm rambling now so let's just get to the story of Bastion who's far more willing to get what he wants. It's time to Get Our Game On and Get Our Greatness On!**

* * *

 **On The Way To Greatness - A Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Fanfiction One-Shot**

Bastion Misawa stood tall at the entrance to the arena, duel disk already strapped to his left arm, ready to go. He was going through all of his plans one final time before entering the arena, trying to reassure himself he had done everything he could to prepare. He had come so far this year, but now he was to face his greatest challenge yet: Jaden Yuki.

Oh how that Slifer Red both fascinated and flustered Bastion. Jaden was easily one of the best duelists in the school, and was probably the best freshman duelist as well. He had a crazy knack for always drawing the right card whenever he needed it and almost nothing could shake him in a duel. Jaden was a real force to be reckoned with, and his Elemental HEROes were a dangerous gang to go up against. Jaden had laid waste to Doctor Crowler in his entrance exam, and he had continued to amass impressive wins as the year progressed.

As far as Bastion knew, Jaden's only defeat so far at the academy had been at the hands of Zane Truesdale, the gem of Duel Academy himself. A part of him was always baffled that this duel had been kept pretty much a secret. After all, the "Kaiser" (as some students liked to call Zane) going up against the most promising student at the academy seemed like a big event. But it had been kept in the dark for reasons unknown. Bastion had only learnt about this duel by getting Syrus to accidentally reveal just enough information. As much as he didn't like taking advantage of the younger Truesdale, sometimes the little bugger made it too easy for him. That kid was so insecure it hurt. He'd crack under any pressure or prodding.

Of course, there were the parts of Jaden that Bastion absolutely abhorred. As juvenile as Doctor Crowler was by almost always referring to Jaden as a "Slifer Slacker," it was in a sense, actually quite true. Jaden, for all his great duelling skill, was a slacker. He'd often sleep through class and was coasting his way through his studies. If he didn't outright fail tests and assignments he was just barely passing. Considering the obvious vendetta Crowler had towards the HERO duelist, Bastion had been surprised that the professor hadn't tried to use Jaden's poor grades to get him in trouble. Maybe Crowler just wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed or just preferred underhanded tactics of some sort.

Either way really, Jaden was a bit of an oddity. He clearly had what it would take to be the best student at the school next to Zane, but Jaden only really seemed to care about chilling with his friends and duelling. Bastion was fairly certain Jaden had never even studied for a single test in all of his time at the academy. A part of him wondered why Jaden bothered coming to Duel Academy if he had no intention of studying, but maybe Jaden just assumed Duel Academy was about nothing but duelling. The sad part was that this seemed very much like a possibility.

But the time had come, Bastion was finally ready to prove himself to everyone. He had defeated Chazz Princeton and had advanced to Obelisk Blue, taking Chazz's place in the process. But for some reason, it didn't feel like anything had changed. Yes, Bastion was now technically one of the academy's elite by carrying the rank of Obelisk Blue but…...his blue and black duel blazer didn't mean anything really. Nor did his fancy room in the Blue dormitory. Although he had earned it, his ascension to Obelisk Blue had been hollow.

Bastion at the time had considered his victory against Chazz to be a pivotal moment in his time at Duel Academy. He had bested someone who had basically become Jaden's rival and had been promoted to a higher dorm as a result. That was the point of Duel Academy, to rise through the ranks. But his victory had been cheapened by the world around him. By the time he had gone up against Chazz, he had pretty much lost everything bar his literal ranking. Jaden's win over him had crushed his spirit and ego. Chazz's fellow elitists had abandoned him, unable to process how an Obelisk could somehow lose to a "Slifer Slacker." To add salt to the wound, Chazz had been using a bunch of rare and new powerful cards. But Jaden had triumphed over him nonetheless. Jaden was the one to send Chazz spiralling downwards. The real victory was to Jaden. Bastion merely defeated what was left of the once great Obelisk. His victory was rendered meaningless.

Save for maybe Alexis, no one actually accepted and/or appreciated Bastion in the Obelisk Blue dorm. Defeating Chazz was considered nothing by the elites, who would have kicked Chazz out themselves if they could have. Bastion hadn't earned their respect, to them, he was still just an upstart from Ra Yellow. Beating Chazz didn't prove anything.

But today, things would change. He was finally duelling Jaden Yuki. The winner would go on to represent Duel Academy in the official School Duel against North Academy. Now the academy would get to see who truly was the best freshman duelist. Bastion would finally have the chance to prove himself to everyone, and show them all that he did deserve to be in Obelisk Blue. He had devised a victory equation, an equation to defeat Jaden. True recognition was finally within his grasp, and he would do anything to take it.

Bastion looked up as the lights in the arena turned on, blinding the crowd briefly. He managed a grin before striding forward, being engulfed by the bright lights. He kept his head up and back straight as he took his position on the duelling field before folding his arms. He was facing straight ahead at the spot where Jaden would soon be standing. He let his peripheral vision do the work of scanning the crowd for him. He could make out Jaden's friend Syrus and Chumley in the middle of the stands and even managed to catch a glimpse of Alexis near the top of the stands leaning against the railing. He immediately blocked them all from his mind.

'No distractions!' the Obelisk thought to himself with a strict tone. 'I must concentrate. Jaden isn't a friend today. He's an obstacle. An obstacle that I must overcome to claim victory and glory!'

Finally Jaden entered. Of course, the Slifer walked far more casually than when Bastion had entered. Instead of standing tall, his shoulders were hunched forward slightly, no doubt from slouching during classes while he was sleeping. His arms swung as he stepped up, accompanied by a goofy grin on his face. His duel disk was strapped on, just like Bastion's.

"Alright Bastion," Jaden announced as he faced his opponent. "Let's have some fun."

'Fun indeed,' the Obelisk thought in return. 'When I win!'

Of course, he wouldn't say this out loud. He didn't want to sound too much like some of the elitist snobs in his dorm, that's for sure. At the same time though, he didn't want this duel to look like two buddies just having a game. He needed to treat Jaden like any other opponent. The Obelisks needed to see that he was one of them.

"Let's settle this once and for all!" Bastion stated fiercely as he flung his arm out dramatically, trying to look intimidating. He was going for a sort of 'Zane' style thing here. It didn't work apparently, since Jaden just grinned even more in response.

Crowler stepped up to announce the beginning of the duel and introduce both contestants. Bastion was only half listening, as most of his attention was on Jaden. He was certain Crowler had subtly mocked Jaden by not even referring to him by name and he could hear that the crowd was more on his side than Jaden's (for now at least). But he could tell that the Obelisk's were judging him. All of their eyes were on him. This was a true test of whether he belonged among them or not. Bastion even noticed Zane himself emerging from nowhere and taking a position besides Alexis.

'I will prove myself to all of them and you Zane!' Bastion thought with intensity as he turned to look directly at the "Kaiser." He hoped Zane could tell what he was thinking. Zane however, kept his usual expressionless mask on his face as he stood tall with his arms crossed.

"Let the Duel Off begin!" Crowler announced as he threw his arm into the air.

"Get your game on!" Jaden recited his catchphrase excitedly as he slotted his deck into his disk and activated it.

"Get your game on indeed," Bastion responded calmly as he pulled out a single deck from his pocket and casually inserted it into his respective disk. Both duel disks let out a beep as they turned on and shifted into duelling mode. Both duelists swiftly drew their first five cards.

* * *

" **Duel!"**

 **Bastion Misawa 4000 VS Jaden Yuki 4000**

* * *

 **Turn 1: Bastion**

"The first move is mine!" roared Bastion as he ripped a card from his deck. He glanced at his draw and grinned.

'The first part of my victory equation is complete!' he thought with satisfaction.

"Looks like you got a good draw," Jaden chuckled. Bastion glanced up at him as he continued. "I can't wait to see what it is. After all, you no doubt made that deck just for me."

"You don't know the half of it Jaden," Bastion returned. "It's time to show you the beginnings of my victory!" He dramatically slapped a card down on his disk. "Behold: My Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo in attack mode!" There was a flash of light, and emerging from it was a fossil dinosaur with a spiky tail and large claws.

Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo: 1200 Attack

"A rock-type monster?" Jaden questioned as he frowned slightly. He was in the midst of trying to determine whether this was Bastion perhaps using his Earth deck. The man himself however spoke up to clear things up.

"I can tell by the look on your face that you're trying to determine what kind of danger you may be facing today!" Bastion announced before pointing to his monster. "You see, my Fossil Dyna has a very special ability. So long as he's face-up on the field, neither player can special summon any monsters!"

Bastion's words were like a sledgehammer coming down on a pitiful bug. The revelation hit Jaden as well as the crowd hard. The Slifer spluttered as he tried to say something in protest. "But...that….renders all of my fusion HEROes unusable," he panicked.

Bastion let a little cocky grin spread across his face. "Precisely."

"A bold move," Zane muttered to Alexis. "That fossil of his will greatly restrict the type of plays Jaden can make. A deck that relies heavily on fusion summoning like Jaden's is completely crippled if it can't turn to it's fusion monsters for support. Unless Jaden destroys Fossil Dyna, he'll be forced to work entirely with his low level HEROes instead."

"But Bastion will also be stuck without special summons too," Alexis countered.

"Not necessarily," Zane responded smoothly. "If Bastion is as smart as everyone says he is, this deck would be designed to win without the need to special summon often."

Alexis glanced at Zane, trying to determine if he was actually impressed or not. His expression or tone of voice didn't really give it away, but she had the feeling he was simply unwilling to show it yet.

"Now I'll let you off with two face down cards," Bastion continued as he slotted some cards into his disk.

* * *

 **Turn 2: Jaden**

"Guess it's my move then!" Jaden declared as he drew. He glanced at his hand, trying to work something out.

'This isn't good at all,' he thought. 'As long as he has that Pachy...uh….whatever monster out on the field, I can't fusion summon.' He glanced at his draw. 'That also means the Polymerization I just drew is basically useless for now.'

Bastion watched Jaden intently as the Slifer (for once) carefully considered his move. 'Let's see how he handles this,' he noted in his mind.

"I'm bringing out a good friend of mine!" Jaden cried. "Take centre stage Sparkman!" There was a blast of electricity as a gold and blue armoured cybernaut emerged onto the field, with lightning crackling from the warrior's armour.

Elemental HERO Sparkman: Attack 1600

"That dinosaur of yours is a major headache," Jaden stated. "But it does have one weakness."

"And what's that exactly?" Bastion retorted.

"It's susceptible to being destroyed in battle!" Jaden cheered as he flung his arm out. "Go Sparkman! Let's get our special summons back by destroying Fossil Dyna Pachy...whatever with Static Shockwave!"

Bastion was legit surprised that Jaden even knew what the word susceptible meant and almost made a snappy comment about it. He held himself back though, he didn't want to become an arrogant prick like Chazz after all.

"I activate my trap card!" he roared instead whilst tapping a button on his disk. "Go, Negate Attack!"

Sparkman let loose a blast of electricity from it's palm, but what amounted to a block hole opened up and absorbed the attack, canceling the battle as well as ending Jaden's battle phase automatically.

"You didn't think it was going to be that easy did you?" Bastion quipped as his lip curled up. Okay, maybe he was willing to be a little bit of a prick. He did need to LOOK like an Obelisk after all.

Jaden simply laughed in response as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I had to try."

"I almost forgot," replied Bastion. "I have another face-down to reveal! My continuous trap: Solemn Wishes!"

Jaden gasped as the trap flipped up, revealing a woman standing in the rain. "A continuous trap?" he asked.

"Exactly," Bastion proceeded. "You see, now whenever I draw one or more cards at a time, Solemn Wishes will boost my life points by 500."

"No way!" Jaden protested.

"That's not fair," Syrus whined from the stands, and Chumley nodded in agreement. It wasn't actually unfair, Bastion had just made a good move is all. But when it came to supporting your friends, you had to be unwavering.

"Another bold play," Zane commented, still stoic as usual. "Now the longer the duel drags out, the more life points Bastion will gain. Putting Jaden further and further at a disadvantage as the game progresses. Very clever." This time, Alexis was certain she saw just a slight grin on the Kaiser's face.

Jaden glanced at his hand, trying to come up with some sort of strategy. 'I could set Hero Signal,' he thought. 'But….with that Fossil Dyna what-it's-name on the field, I couldn't use it anyway. I have to bide my time until I can get that fossil off of the field.'

The Slifer scratched his head as he looked over at Bastion. "I guess I'll just have to end my turn there."

* * *

 **Turn 3: Bastion**

"Then it's my go!" Bastion cried as he began his turn. He didn't even glance at his draw at first, instead pointing to his trap card. "Now witness the power of Solen Wishes!" An aqua aura surrounded Bastion momentarily, and his life point meter went into the blue now that he had over the starting value of 4000.

Bastion: 4000-4500

'That trap is going to be a nuisance too,' Jaden complained in thought, narrowing his eyes at Solemn Wishes. 'If I don't get rid of both of his cards soon, this duel will be over sooner than I thought.'

Now that he got to show off his trap, Bastion finally turned his attention to his draw. He eyed it and grinned before holding it out for Jaden to see. "It appears the lucky draw you so favour Jaden has decided to help me today!" he declared triumphantly. "For my draw was the spell card known as Smashing Ground!"

"This could get ugly fast," Zane stated as Bastion slid his spell into his disk and it's hologram appeared in front of him.

"Now the monster with the highest defense on your field snuffs it!" he explained.

"Wait? What!" panicked Jaden as a large brown fist emerged from the ceiling and pummelled Sparkman into the ground, shattering the electric HERO into pixel fragments.

"Unfortunately, since Sparkman was your only monster, there was only one possible target," Bastion mused as he folded his arms. "Now Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo attack Jaden directly with Fossil Fury!"

His fossilised dinosaur leapt forward with a screech and slashed at Jaden with its claws. The HERO duelist held up an arm to shield himself but still cried out as his life points took a hit.

Jaden: 4000-2800

"Now," said Bastion smugly as a set card emerged in front of him. "I'll set one card face-down and end my turn."

* * *

 **Turn 4: Jaden**

"I gotta do something to turn this around," Jaden said to himself, although he was talking loudly enough for Bastion and some of the crowd to hear him. "Or else this Duel Off is going to turn into a write off." He reached for his deck dramatically. "Here goes something! I draw!" he grinned widely at his card. "And it turns out that something was pretty good!"

Bastion couldn't help but roll his eyes. Sometimes he wondered if some cosmic entity was actually responsible for all of Jaden's victories, always allowing him to draw whatever card was needed. But that was ridiculous. Bastion believed in science and cold hard facts, not magic or nonsense like that. He could barely stomach the fact that people thought the Egyptian God Cards actually held the spirits of the real Egyptian Gods. Yeah, like the old hokey Egyptian religion was the right ...

"I'm summoning out a brand new HERO!" declared Jaden as he placed a monster on his disk. "Come on out Elemental HERO Wildheart!"

Bastion's eyes widened in shock as an unfamiliar HERO rolled onto the field. He appeared to be a tribal warrior of some sort, having long flowing black hair and a sword strapped to his back.

Elemental HERO Wildheart: Attack 1500

"Alright Wildheart!" Jaden commanded. "Let's show Bastion what we're made of! Take out his fossil!" He didn't even bother trying to pronounce Pachycephalo this time as his warrior drew his sword and charged forward with a battle cry.

"Sorry Jaden!" Bastion interjected, taping a button on his disk. "But I have another trap card! And it'll shatter your hopes! Go, Mirror Force!"

"Oh no!" cried Syrus from the stands, knowing what this meant.

A translucent barrier appeared between Wildheart and Fossil Dyna, and the HERO's blade struck the barrier head on. But to the surprise of everyone, the sword kept going, shattering the shield into pieces as if it were glass.

"What?" Bastion's calm visage crumbled as his trap did.

"Wildheart has a special ability!" Jaden explained. "He's not affected by trap cards! So your Mirror Force has been wasted!" He pointed at at Pachycephalo. "So go and finish your attack Wildheart!"

The warrior leapt into the air, and Bastion was powerless as the opponent's blade came down upon his monster, slicing it in half. The two body parts fell sideways before exploding in a shower of pixels.

Bastion: 4500-4200

"Alright," Jaden grinned. "I'll throw down a face down and call it a turn!"

* * *

 **Turn 5: Bastion**

"A minor hiccup," Bastion snorted as he drew his card. "And my victory equation is not yet shaken!" He gestured to his trap. "Firstly, Solemn Wishes undoes all the damage you dealt last turn!" Another wave of soothing aura washed over the Obelisk.

Bastion: 4200-4700

"Give me a break," groaned Jaden in response, shoulders slumping slightly.

Bastion glanced at his draw and slotted the card into his disk. "If you thought that was bad, you're not going to like this. My Graceful Charity card!" Jaden bit his lip in response. "Now I draw three new cards, and then discard two!"

Zane and Alexis watched as Bastion performed said actions. "But now that means…." Alexis muttered.

"More life points," Zane finished for her as Bastion's trap did it's thing yet again.

Bastion: 4700-5200

"Maybe I need to get myself one of those Solemn Wishes," Jaden commented to himself.

Bastion gazed over his new hand, considering his options carefully. 'It looks my luck of the draw was only temporary,' he scowled in thought. 'I'll have to stall for a bit.'

"I summon Shield Wing in defense position!" he called out as a blue dragon emerged on the field and folded its wings in front of itself like a shield.

Shield Wing: Defense 900

"I should warn you now Jaden," Bastion continued and he held up two fingers. "That Shield Wing can take two attacks per turn without being destroyed."

"No way!" cried Syrus.

"Totally not lishes," added Chumley from beside him.

"That means I'll need three attacks on it in order to destroy it," groaned Jaden, who was glancing at his hand, apparently trying to figure some sort of way out of his current conundrum. He'd finally gotten rid of Fossil Dyna, but still had to deal with Solemn Wishes and now Shield Wing.

"Bastion has utilised a fusion-lock monster, a life-point increasing card and now a stall card," Zane mused, briefly rubbing his chin as he examined the Obelisk freshman. "Perhaps I do have someone else to watch out for besides Jaden."

Alexis partially rolled her eyes but the Kaiser didn't seem to notice, now too engrossed in the duel. Not that Alexis had anything against Bastion really, but he wasn't her favourite person either. They had been at odds during Jaden and Syrus' tag duel against The Paradox Brothers for example. Bastion was doubting the two Slifers who were supposed to be his friends at every turn, while Alexis was the one who had to be overly optimistic to make up for the then-Ra's pessimism. Bastion, she felt, didn't rely enough on feelings and emotions. He was someone caught up entirely on statistics and calculating the odds. There wasn't anything wrong with a strategist, Zane was after all, but Bastion's overt devotedness to constructing the perfect deck to counter a foe rang hollow with her. Bastion didn't have a personal connection to any of his cards because he saw them only as tools. Jaden on the other hand cherishes his cards more than anything, and was always optimistic even in the face of danger. Bastion reminded Alexis too much of the elitist snobs in Obelisk, people who only duelled to feel superior to others. Bastion was in this to prove something. Jaden was in this to have fun. It was clear who she admired more.

"I'll end my turn now," Bastion conceded.

* * *

 **Turn 6: Jaden**

"My turn! I draw!" Jaden drew with a slight newfound confidence. At the very least, he could finally special summon again. He grinned at his draw, Bladedge, before looking his hand over. He'd need three attacks to be rid of Shield Wing, and most of his monsters would have enough attack to overcome Shield Wing's meager 900 defense. But he had no way of getting them onto the field. If he could play Bladedge he could at least inflict damage. He then glanced at his Polymerization and a plan formed.

Bastion gulped as a grin slowly spread across his opponent's face. 'Oh goody,' he groaned in his mind. 'He's got something. Of course he does.'

"I think it's time to play Polymerization at last!" roared Jaden as he held the common spell up in the air. "I fuse Wildheart on my field with Elemental HERO Bladedge in my hand to form a new HERO!"

Bastion scowled as Bladedge briefly appeared on the field before being sucked into a vortex alongside Wildheart. From the vortex emerged a warrior similar to Wildheart but with the size and build of Bladedge. The warrior had a golden gauntlet on his left arm with silver blades attached and wore armour over his right leg and a gold helmet with a visor. The sword on his back was extremely large and sharp.

"Say hello to Elemental HERO Wildedge!" Jaden cheered as his spectacular new monster emerged onto the field.

Elemental HERO Wildedge: Attack 2600

"Way to go Jaden!" Syrus cheered, now standing. "Show Bastion what you got!"

"A few fancy new cards isn't going to save you," Bastion snarled. He was trying to make himself look a little tougher. After all, all the Obelisks were judging him right now, and he didn't want to look like a softy. A part of him hated having to be a little dickish to Jaden, he was his friend after all. But that was a sacrifice he needed to make. The elite stood alone at the top. If he truly wanted to get there, he'd have to cast off all shackles. Even his friends.

Jaden of course, didn't pick up on any of the malice Bastion had tried injecting into his voice. "Wildedge's effect normally would allow him to attack every monster on your field, but since you only have one that doesn't really apply here."

The Obelisk scoffed. "What was the point then?" he mocked. "If you had at least summoned Bladedge somehow, you could have still dished out some damage. But your fusion monster doesn't affect the field in any way whatsoever."

Bastion shivered. He was starting to sound a little too much like Chazz. Maybe he was taking this too far. No way he was going to become as egocentric as him. Chazz was a complete assho-

"Wildedge attack!" Jaden commanded suddenly, snapping Bastion out of his thoughts. The large warrior roared before drawing his sword and slashing at Shield Wing, which held strong against the attack.

"And what was the point of that?" snapped Bastion. He had too much respect for Jaden's skills. He was legit angry that Jaden would make such a pointless move. "You couldn't do any damage and couldn't destroy my monster. It was just null and void."

"I don't think so," Jaden responded cheerfully. Apparently this kid didn't waver against anyone. "Because I got a quick-play spell to complete my masterplan!"

And that was when the pieces fell into place in Bastion's mind. He had no counter for it though, and he could only widen his eyes in horror as Jaden activated the dreaded spell: De-Fusion. The golden warrior that was Bladedge emerged onto the field alongside Wildheart, both ready for battle.

Elemental HERO Wildheart: Attack 1500

Elemental HERO Bladedge: Attack 2600

"Round Two Bastion!" cried Jaden. "Wildheart attack Shield Wing!" he commanded as his warrior attempted to slash through Shield Wing's defense. Once again, they held firmly. "Now that Shield Wing's all out of extra lives, it's time to finish it off! Go Bladedge! Slice and Dice attack!"

Bastion gritted his teeth in annoyance as Bladedge leapt forward and slashed his monster into four pieces with an X-Scissor attack, the shockwave knocking him back a step. Worst of all, Bladedge's effect meant he still took damage despite his monster being in defense mode.

Bastion: 5200-3500

"Yeah Jaden!" shouted Syrus and Chumley at once, clapping loudly. Some of the others watching joined in to, and Jaden politely waved to his devoted fans. Mainly Syrus and Chumley though.

"I guess I'll end there," Jaden said.

"What is Bastion doing," Crowler scowled from the sidelines. "He's going to lose to that slacker."

Bastion had half a nerve to turn to Crowler and bark at how unhelpful he was being or verbally strike him down for not even being quiet enough for the duelists not to hear him. Bastion was legitimately surprised Jaden hadn't heard somehow. That kid was so oblivious it hurt sometimes.

* * *

 **Turn 7: Bastion**

"So much for needing to watch out for him," scoffed Alexis.

"Getting a bit ahead of ourselves aren't we?" Zane returned playfully, his eyes never leaving the duel. "Look at him Alexis. You can see his eyes. A duelists eyes tell a story. And his eyes tell me everything I need to know. He's not going to lose the will to win."

Alexis gasped slightly as she directed her gaze at Bastion and saw the glow in his eyes that Zane had been talking about. It was similar to the one Jaden always had. Indeed, Bastion Misawa was not going to back down today. He was going all-out.

"I draw!" cried the Obelisk as he pulled a card from his deck swiftly. He grinned at it before directing his attention to his trap once more. "Solemn Wishes, do your thing. You know the drill by now Jaden!"

"Yep, I definitely need one of those," Jaden responded simply as Bastion got healed once again by the trap.

Bastion: 3500-4000

"He's back to 4000 already," Chumley lamented.

"But Jaden has the field advantage now," Syrus responded hopefully.

"I use Monster Reincarnation!" Bastion announced as he slotted a card from his hand into the graveyard. "Now I can ditch a card and get one monster back from the grave as a result! I choose my good old friend!"

"Not that fossil again!" Jaden groaned as Bastion held up his selected card for Jaden to see. Pachycephalo was the last card the HERO duelist wanted to see return.

"That's not all Jaden!" Bastion proceeded. "You see, the card I discarded was a very special spell called Card of Compensation! When it's discarded, I get to draw two new cards! And you know what that means!"

Jaden sighed in annoyance once more as Solemn Wishes did it's thing.

Bastion: 4000-4500

The Analyst grinned at Jaden's dismay. It took a lot to bum Jaden out, at least a little bit, so he was quite glad his card had been as pesky and annoying as he had hoped. "Now I'm going to set one monster face-down!" he continued as his horizontal card appeared on the field.

"Huh?" A look of confusion crossed Jaden's face as he eyed the set card wearily. "You went through all of that to get Fossil Dyna Pachy…."

"Pachycephalo." Bastion decided to throw Jaden a bone for once.

"That thing," Jaden continued. "But you just set a monster in the end?"

"All part of my masterplan." Bastion grinned as he slammed a spell into his disk. "I now use Instant-Gravity!"

The spell's hologram appeared and immediately unleashed a sonic blast that forced Jaden to hold up his disk to protect himself. "What's happening?" he protested.

"Simple," Bastion explained. "Instant-Gravity switches the position of all of our monsters. So your two HEROes switch to defense and my face-down monster is flipped into face-up attack position!"

Jaden cried out in shock as his two heroes kneeled down and crossed their arms over in front of them, a typical HERO defense pose. Meanwhile, Bastion's face down monster flipped face-up to reveal Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo.

Elemental HERO Wildheart: Defense 1600

Elemental HERO Bladedge: Defense 1800

Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo: Attack 1200

"Not bad," Jaden complimented but he was grinning now as the effect of Bastion's card ended. "But your fossil's attack power isn't enough to penetrate my defenses!"

"Did I forget to mention Pachycephalo has a second ability," taunted Bastion, folding his arms confidently.

"Uh oh….."

"When it's flipped face up!" roared Bastion, whipping his right arm out to gesture to his monster. "It destroys all special summoned monsters on your field! So watch as your field is wiped clean via Special Shriek!"

Jaden could only watch, helpless, as Dyna unleashed a high-pitch screech that shattered his monsters into pixels. Then he could only watch as Dyna charged forward for another direct attack and slashed at him.

'Darn it,' the Slifer cursed in thought. 'I couldn't even use my Hero Signal trap 'cause of that fossil.'

Jaden: 2800-1600

"I'll let you off for now," Bastion said.

* * *

 **Turn 8: Jaden**

"So much for that field advantage," Chumley sighed.

"No," Syrus retorted from beside the senior Slifer duelist. "Jaden can still win this. He's turned this duel around once already. He can do it again!"

'No doubt he's right,' Bastion noted in his mind. 'Jaden will of course come back with something. He always does. I mustn't let my guard down.'

"Let see what I can do with this draw!" Jaden declared as he began his turn. He grinned at his draw and immediately slid it into his disk. "I use Spell Books from the Pot! Allowing us to each draw three new cards!"

Bastion laughed to himself. "That means more life points for me," he taunted as he drew his respective three cards.

Bastion: 4500-5000

"You better lavish in those life points while you can Bastion," Jaden snarked in response while drawing his three cards, startling the Obelisk slightly. "Because they're coming off! First I'm playing Elemental HERO Burstinatrix in attack mode!" There was a burst of flames and emerging from it was Jaden's fire-based HERO, a female with flowing black hair wearing hot-rod-red armour.

Elemental HERO Burstinatrix: Attack 1200

"Now I play the spell R - Righteous Justice!" Jaden continued. "Here's how it works. For every Elemental HERO on my side of the field, I get to destroy one spell or trap card on yours. I have one, Burstinatrix, so I can destroy one of your spell or traps." He quickly pointed to the accursed Solemn Wishes. "Say bye bye to anymore life points!"

There was a spark of yellow energy and it shot towards Bastion's trap and blasted it apart. The Obelisk however, seemed unfazed by this development. He had expected his trap to eventually be destroyed. But in the time it had been on the field, it had done its job.

"Now to get rid of Fossil Dyna Pachycypher…..Pachycelia…...Pachy…" The crowd watched bemused as Jaden tried and failed repeatedly to pronounce Pachycephalo. Finally, he gave up and flung his arm out. "Screw it! It's time to get rid of You-Know-Who! Attack Burstinatrix!"

"Go! Fossil Fury!"

"Flare Storm!"

Pachycephalo was hit with various fire balls, but managed to use the last of its energy to leap forward and slash its foe across the chest, shattering the female HERO before itself succumbed to its wounds and exploded.

"So you disposed of Pachycephalo," Bastion snarled as the dust settled from the battle. "All that does is leave you wide open next turn."

"Don't go selling me short Bastion," Jaden replied with a cheeky grin. "Cause with You-Know-Who gone I-"

"Just call it Fossil Dyna," the Obelisk said as he face-palmed himself. "No one can take you seriously referring to it as 'You-Know-Who' you realise?"

Jaden didn't seem to understand but agreed nonetheless. "Fine then. With Fossil Dyna gone I can play my Hero Signal!"

The common HERO support trap flipped up and shot out a signal with an H on it whilst Jaden thumbed through his deck.

"It's time to call out some back-up!" cheered Jaden. "Like my Elemental HERO Avian!" There was a blast of light and a man with wings covered in green feathers descended onto the field from the sky.

Elemental HERO Avian: Attack 1000

"The pendulum swings the other way again," Alexis couldn't help but quip. The Kaiser managed a smile in response.

"That blasted trap," Bastion fumed to himself quietly.

"Stick it to him Avian!" ordered Jaden as he pointed at his opponent. "Attack with Feather Shot!"

Bastion held up one arm but didn't flinch as the holographic feathers bombarded him whilst Avian flapped his wings. This wasn't exactly the scenario he wanted to be in right now, but he wasn't going to let Jaden know that.

Bastion: 5000-4000

"I guess I'll end there," Jaden conceded.

"I told you Jaden would turn it around," Syrus commented as he looked to Chumley, who merely nodded in reply.

* * *

 **Turn 9: Bastion**

Bastion scowled as he drew his card, not even bothering to declare the beginning of his turn. Apparently not trying to show he was flustered fell apart as a plan after five seconds. At the very least, Jaden had buffed his hand up last turn via Spell Books from the Pot so he had some new cards to consider and make use of.

"I summon Gear Golem the Moving Fortress in attack mode!" Bastion called out as a large mechanical beast coloured gold and blue emerged onto the field. It was spiked and appeared to have feet of some kind attached to it's large body.

Gear Golem the Moving Fortress: Attack 800

"That doesn't look so scary," Jaden couldn't help but comment. Bastion had to bite his lip to stop himself from biting Jaden's head off. Had Jaden always been this annoying, or was this the elitist persona starting to seep too much into Bastion's actual persona?

"Now it's time for me to start spending life points to take life points!" Bastion declared arrogantly. "You see, I can pay 800 life points and Gear Golem can attack you directly!"

"A strong play," Zane noted as he unfolded his arms for the first time in the entire duel and gripped the railing in front of him. "With a monster like Gear Golem, Bastion can take a chunk out of Jaden's life points every turn and only has to pay some life points of his own."

Alexis gasped. "But even though they're losing the same points, Bastion has more which means Jaden will lose before Bastion runs out of his to pay the cost."

Bastion: 4000-3200

The Obelisk flung his arm out. "Gear Golem! Hit Jaden where it hurts!" he barked. The mechanical menace began to chug forward, and when it came to Avian, it tunneled down into the arena and emerged topside behind the Elemental HERO before slamming into Jaden head-on. The Slifer cried out in shock and stumbled back from the blow.

Jaden: 1600-0800

"Not good!" screeched Syrus in a panic.

"If Jaden takes one more attack like that then it's over," Chumley added.

"I'll play Stop Defense to keep my monster nice and safe for now behind it's strong defense. And I'll keep you guessing with this face down card Jaden," cackled Bastion as he slotted a card into his disk and his monsters card emerged underneath it to show it was in defense mode. "It's your move."

Gear Golem the Moving Fortress: Defense 2200

* * *

 **Turn 10: Jaden**

'Oh man,' said the Slifer in his mind. 'If I don't get rid of Gear Golem this turn, I could lose. I need a good draw.'

"My turn!" cried Jaden. "And I'm playing Graceful Charity!"

'This kid and his uncanny draw!' fumed Bastion in thought whilst Jaden picked up three and tossed out two.

"Now I'm playing O - Oversoul!" Jaden continued. "With this, I can bring back a level 4 or lower normal Elemental HERO from my graveyard. So let's say hello to Sparkman again!"

Elemental HERO Sparkman: Attack 1600

"But he won't be staying for long!" chriped Jaden. He was clearly pumped up now as he held up a familiar spell. "Cause I'm fusing him with Clayman in my hand to form Elemental HERO Thunder Giant!"

Sparkman merged with a blocky brown figure named Clayman into the usual fusion vortex, and emerging from it was a large bodied man with yellow, white and blue armour with a visor. The monster lived up to its name with the sound of thunder crashing as it arrived and lightning radiating from its body.

Elemental HERO Thunder Giant: Attack 2400

"I activate my trap!" Bastion shouted suddenly. "Fusion Drop! Now I can destroy one fusion monster on your side of the field!"

Jaden faltered for a moment, but only for a moment. "That may be true, but since it doesn't negate my monster's summon, Thunder Giant super power still activates when he's brought out. Gear Golem has less than 2400 attack, so he goes bye bye. Go, destroy Gear Golem Thunder Giant with Voltic Thunder!"

The large HERO pointed at Gear Golem as lightning shot down from the sky and bombarded the machine monster, eventually blowing it up in a majestic display of fire and smoke.

"A necessary sacrifice." Bastion dismissed the monster, still certain victory was within his grasp even without it. "Now my trap claims its victim!"

Jaden groaned slightly as a black hand emerged from a hole underneath his monster and grabbed hold of Thunder Giant, pulling it down into the ground which then exploded, shattering the mighty fusion monster.

"Well….that wasn't exactly best case scenario but it's still a scenario," joked Jaden as he rubbed the back of his neck again. "I still get another free shot at your life points. Avian, direct attack!"

Bastion didn't flinch at all this time, although his eye may have twitched slightly but no one was close enough to tell anyway. Not to mention, the view was obscured slightly from the feathers flying into him.

Bastion: 3200-2200

"I'll throw down a face down for later and finish there," Jaden concluded.

* * *

 **Turn 11: Bastion**

"Back to me then," stated Bastion through gritted teeth. A grin emerged on his face however when he saw his draw. He placed it down on his disk and watched in joy as a swirl of flames appeared on his field and formed a fiery dragon-serpent-like creature. "You remember my Solar Flare Dragon don't you Jaden?"

Solar Flare Dragon: Attack 1500

Up in the stands, a realisation dawned on Syrus. "If that dragon successfully destroys Avian and deals damage, Jaden will then lose at the end of the turn once it's burn effect activates."

"Definitely not lishes," Chumley responded with grimly.

"It's game over Jaden!" snarled Bastion as he pointed directly at his foe. "Solar Flare! Destroy Avian with Fire Flare!" The pyro serpent let out a roar and a swirling stream of fire flew from its mouth towards Avian.

"Sorry Bastion," Jaden retorted. "But the fat lady isn't singing quite yet! I use Hero Barrier!" The trap flipped up and created a barrier which allowed Avian and Jaden to fight for another day.

Bastion scowled. "You survive this turn, but you're not getting out unscathed when my turn ends," he snapped. Right on cue, Solar Flare's eyes flashed red and flames suddenly arose around Jaden, with the Slifer crying out in shock.

Jaden: 0800-0300

"Hang in there Jay!" Syrus cried, leaning on the edge of his seat now.

Jaden turned to his friend in the crowd and gave him a thumbs up. "Don't worry Sy, I got this!" he declared.

'We'll see about that,' retorted Baston in thought.

* * *

 **Turn 12: Jaden**

"Although I could use a miracle right about now," Jaden wondered out loud as he drew his card. "And a miracle I got. First Pot of Greed to draw two! And then…...a literal miracle. I play Miracle Fusion!"

"Oh for crying out loud!" barked Bastion in annoyance. He was done trying to not let his frustration boil over completely.

"Now by removing Avian on my field and Burstinatrix in my graveyard from play, I can fuse them to summon my good ol' pal Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!" roared Jaden as his trademark HERO emerged onto the field, green and red-bodied with a wing and a dragon head on it's arm. It flew around the arena before landing with its arms folded.

"I don't think I have to explain how this is gonna go," chuckled Jaden. This really was just a game to him. A small part of Bastion wishes he could feel the same way about this. But he couldn't. He pushed aside that compassion. He wanted to be the best. And to be the best, you had to want to have more than just fun. To be an Obelisk, he had to look down on everyone else. He clenched his left hand as a show of strength and determination.

"Bring it!" challenged Bastion.

"Flame Wingman!" Jaden called out as he pointed to the ceiling. "Take flight and destroy Solar Flare with Skydive Scorcher!"

Flame Wingman ascended before setting itself on fire and diving downwards, crashing through Solar Flare in the process. The shockwave knocked Bastion back slightly but he then had to hold his arms up over his face as Flame Wingman spewed flames at him from its dragon head.

Bastion: 2200-1600-0100

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" cheered Syrus from the stands as if he were Jaden's No. 1 fan or something. That kid…..Bastion sometimes had to wonder what was up with him. He only ever showed confidence when it came to cheering on Jaden. Even then, there were times when that faltered too. There were more pressing issues though. The crowd was starting to noticeably sway in Jaden's favour.. Most of the Ra and Slifer Reds seemed to be on the HERO duelist's side whereas the Obelisk section had seemingly stopped cheering altogether for Bastion now. Rage was building up inside the Analyst now, so much he thought he might explode. But then he heard Jaden's voice.

"This has been a great duel Bastion," Jaden mused cheerfully from his side of the field. "This has been the most fun I've had all year maybe."

Fun?

The word seemed weird to think about in Bastion's mind. But maybe….maybe Jaden was right? Bastion had tried to do everything in his power to be more like the Obelisk Blue students but it didn't seem to be working. Instead, he was just driving the crowd to Jaden. He had told himself that he had to be elitist basically to be the best. But Jaden was the best and he duelled literally just for fun. Not to prove anything or satisfy some desire. He did it because he enjoyed it. Maybe that was what Bastion was missing. He was trying to be someone else, when instead he should have been himself. Maybe that's why his deck wasn't responding to him properly. The great Yugi Moto had always talked about 'the Heart of the Cards' and although Bastion had always considered it nonsense, now he thought it might be true. Jaden's deck always responded to him after all. And look how far that had gotten him? Jaden could write top-decker on his resume really. Perhaps to truly prove himself…..he had to also be himself and let-go of his arrogance.

Bastion grinned, not wickedly or anything like before, but genuinely. "Is that all you've got?" he asked.

Jaden smiled in response and swiftly set a card. "I'll put down a face-down and call it a turn."

* * *

 **Turn 13: Bastion**

"He's having fun," chuckled Zane, amused by what was unfolding before him.

"What do you mean?" asked Alexis, curious now.

"Look at Misawa Alexis," Zane responded without pointing. "He doesn't have the smile of someone who wants to win or destroy his enemies anymore. He has the smile of Jaden."

"Huh?" Alexis looked between the two duelist before her and gasped. They both had identical smiles. Bastion was having…..FUN? It took a moment to process but eventually she accepted it. Bastion had dropped the douchebag act and was being himself. He was no longer strutting around like he owned the place. He was duelling just for the fun of it now.

"I go!" laughed Bastion as he swiftly drew his card. "I play Reload! Now I get to return my three card hand to my deck, shuffle it, and draw three new cards!"

"He's throwing his whole hand away?" questioned Alexis.

"He's putting faith into his cards." Zane was grinning now, much to his friend's disbelief. The two watched as Bastion shuffled his deck and reinserted it into his disk. His right hand hovered over the deck momentarily.

'Believe in yourself,' Bastion thought. 'Believe in your deck!' He drew his three cards and looked at them. 'And the deck WILL provide the answer!'

"The suspense is killing me!" laughed Jaden. "Spill! What cards did you get?"

"I'm about to expose your Miracle Fusion's weakness Jaden!" declared Bastion as he slotted a card into his disk. "Go, De-Fusion!"

"Uh oh," was Jaden's comedic response as his Flame Wingman split back into Avian and Burstinatrix, who then exploded into two showers of pixels.

"Since the materials of Avian and Burstinatrix weren't in the graveyard," explained Bastion, now lacking his cocky tone from before. "You don't get them back even when Flame Wingman returns to the extra deck!"

"Jaden watch out!" screamed Syrus, standing up on his chair now. "You're wide open!"

"I can sort of see that Sy," Jaden sweatdropped as he calmly responded to his friend. The two had no problems having a conversation in the middle of a duel apparently.

"Let the duel proceed!" snarled Crowler who had been silent for awhile up until this point. Clearly he was excited with the prospect of Bastion having the chance to land the winning blow currently.

"I'm bringing out an old friend!" announced Bastion. "Arise, my second copy of Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo!" Jaden suppressed a groan as the all-too-familiar rock-type monster emerged onto the field and roared.

Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo: Attack 1200

"Finish him Bastion!" Crowler yelled out before covering his mouth and ducking down to avoid Chancellor Sheppard's stern gaze.

"End this Dyna!" the analyst duelist declared as his monster charged forward. "Attack with Fossil Fury!"

"I still got a trap card!" Jaden retorted quickly. "Go, Defense Draw!"

"What?"

"Defense Draw!" Jaden repeated. "I reduce the damage from this battle to zero," he explained as a dome of energy blocked off the attacking monster. "And then I get to draw one card." He subsequently drew his card.

"Clever move," Bastion acknowledged with a grin. "I wouldn't expect a card like that to be in your deck though."

Jaden laughed. "Well, Syrus and Chumley had heard about how much time you were spending in preparing for this duel and they said I should throw in a few different cards to keep you on your toes. Looks like it was for the best."

"We actually managed to get him to study for this duel for more than an hour," Syrus commented, now back in his seat having calmed down with some help from Chumley. "That was the real miracle of this week."

"I'll set one card and end my turn!" Bastion declared. "Now, I want to see how you'll get out of this one!"

* * *

 **Turn 14: Jaden**

"Let's find out together!" responded Jaden cheerfully as he drew. "I'm playing A Hero's Legacy! Since I have two Elemental HEROes in my graveyard, I get to draw three new cards!"

'Just as I thought,' noted Bastion in his head. 'His deck responds to his every need. It's the perfect bond between deck and duelist.'

"Here's one of the new cards I added," mused Jaden as he began his turn for real. "The spell Smashing Ground! Time for some payback!"

Bastion held up his arms to block the recoil that occured when a giant hand emerged from the ceiling and pummeled his only monster.

"Bastion's wide open now." Alexis just couldn't resist stating the obvious here.

"Now I'm summoning out Elemental HERO Bubbleman!" roared Jaden as his blue-caped and blue-armoured warrior emerged onto the field. "And since he's the only card I got out, I get to draw two more cards! I don't need them for now though. This match is over. Bubbleman attack with Bubble Blast!"

Elemental HERO Bubbleman: Attack 800

The crowd gasped as Bubbleman's stream of water surged forward, Crowler in particular looked ready to stab something. His eyes were bulging out of his sockets in shock. It was both creepy and surreal. As the stream of water shot towards Bastion from Bubbleman's wrist blaster, the Obelisk grinned with joy and flung his arm out. "I use Defense Draw!"

"No way!" replied Jaden as Bastion was kept safe from an energy dome and drew a card. "What a coincidence."

"Indeed," mused Bastion as he finally glanced at his card. He had to do a double-take as he looked over the new card. Could this be his deck responding to him? Was this a message that he was doing the right thing? The path to victory never seemed so clear.

Jaden appeared to have caught Bastion's expression and was now ready to rumble. "Looks like you got a sweet card," he mused. "And since this duel is still on, I better kick it up a notch!"

Bastion nodded. "Let's see those skills of yours."

"First I'm using the spell Hero's Sacrifice!" cried Jaden, inserting the spell into his disk. "Now by sacrificing an Elemental HERO on my field, I get back 500 life points! Take one for the team Bubbleman!"

Jaden gave his monster a thumbs up as it turned into a blue aura that washed over its master. The Slifer grinned as this all happened, clearly basking in the fact that for once, HE was gaining life points instead of his opponent.

Jaden: 0300-0800

"I'm assuming you actually wanted Bubbleman in the graveyard and that's why you sacrificed him," Bastion offered.

Jaden grinned in response. "You got that right! Cause now I'm playing Soul Release!"

"Jaden's going for another fusion summon," Zane mused.

"What?" questioned Alexis. "But how? How is playing Soul Release meant to be help Jaden fusion summon?"

"Just watch," was the Kaiser's cryptic response with a cheeky grin. He loved being three steps ahead of everyone else sometimes.

"So I'm removing Bubbleman and Sparkman from my graveyard and your two fossils and Solar Flare from your graveyard!" Jaden declared as holograms of the five monsters appeared on the field before being sucked into a black hole.

"And let me guess," Bastion stated calmly. "Fusion summon? Tempest I assume since you now have all of its materials removed from play?"

Jaden smiled brightly. "You got that right! Because I'm playing the spell Parallel World Fusion!"

There was a gasp from the crowd, and whimper of fear from Crowler as the hologram of the spell appeared on the field, featuring a blue and red figure merging together, similar to the usual image on a typical Polymerization card. The card created a blast of light that shot into the air, and it merged the materials of Tempest whilst Jaden shuffled the physical copy of the materials back into his deck. Bastion watched all of this calmly, a challenging grin on his face. Like Jaden would be, he was excited rather than concerned to be so going up against a formidable beast.

"Come on out Elemental HERO Tempest!" cried Jaden as the blast of light receded and in its place stood the warrior wearing Sparkman's armour and visor, Avian's wings and Bubbleman's gauntlets.

Elemental HERO Tempest: Attack 2800

"Looks like this duel is about to reach its climax," Alexis mused, leaning forward slightly.

"Yes, it looks like it will," Zane replied, once again detached from emotion. It appeared he was trying to work something out currently as he studied the two duelists on the field.

"Then I'll keep him company by throwing down two face downs!" Jaden finished as he slid two reverse cards into his disk. He glanced at his hand, which now only contained Winged Kuriboh. The spirit within gave him a wink and Jaden nodded in return. The level 1 fairy-type monster would be his backup should things go awry.

* * *

 **Turn 15: Bastion**

Bastion's hand lingered over his deck for a moment as he glanced at the one card in his hand. 'This card made its way to me last turn, and I'm certain it's a sign that I'm doing the right thing. Now it's time to see if my faith will be truly rewarded,' he considered in his head.

"Let's finish this Jaden," he challenged as he drew his card and immediately played it. "Go! Card of Demise!"

"Nice!" Jaden complimented. "A hand-buffing card!"

"Thank goodness," Crowler added as he wiped the sweat which had formed on his forehead away. He was clearly putting a lot of himself emotionally into this duel even though he wasn't apart of it.

"Now I get to draw until I have five cards in my hand," Bastion explained calmly. "But in five turns I'll have to discard my entire hand."

"I have a feeling that won't come to pass," Jaden couldn't help but commenting.

His opponent nodded in agreement. "This is it Jaden! The draw of destiny! The moment that will decide which one of us will take part in The School Duel! I DRAW!" He ripped out the four cards at once and held them down for a few seconds. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. The crowd had gone silent by this point. They were waiting to see Bastion's reaction and/or next play. Could the newly crowned Blue dorm duelist work his way out of his current predicament? Or would the Slifer continue his run of impressive victories? Bastion looked at his cards and put on his best poker face. He didn't want to spoil the surprise for anyone.

"I set three cards face down," he stated in the most monotone voice he could pull off. "I end my turn."

"That's your plan!" snapped Crowler, losing all composure. Apparently the suspense was too much for him. "Just three face down cards?" He was seething at this point and he didn't back down even when Sheppard gave him a sharp look.

"Yes, this is my play," Bastion responded quietly without glancing towards the professor. He wouldn't give anything away until it was time. His grip on the two cards remaining in his hand did shift slightly however. It appeared to be because of the card he had drawn the previous turn. He was itching to play it. "Make your move Jaden, and bring this duel to an end."

* * *

 **Turn 16: Jaden**

"I hear ya loud and clear Bastion! Let's finish it this turn!" Jaden swiped a card from his deck and immediately grinned when he saw it was the spell Heavy Storm.

'Perfect!' thought the Slifer, not even bothering to hide a grin. 'Bastion is no doubt relying on those face downs to save him. But with this, that will remove any chance he has of dodging my attack.'

"Sorry to shatter your hopes there Jaden!" Bastion interrupted, tapping a button on his disk. "But I'm afraid you won't get to use that new card you're smiling at! I reveal the trap Moku!"

"Yes!" cheered Crowler, throwing his arms in the air. "Now that slacker will be forced to discard his draw! Bastion's still in this!"

"Man, I never knew you liked Baston so much teach," Jaden laughed as he slotted Heavy Storm into the graveyard. "But I wouldn't go talking about it so loudly. Some might accuse you of favouritism."

"What did you just say slacker!" snapped Crowler in response but he kept himself from running onto the field. Jaden was merely laughing at the whole ordeal, even though Crowler looked ready to throttle the HERO duelist. Bastion was just surprised Jaden would even make such a comment. It was clearly a comment to rile the professor up, but Jaden had said it with such complete lack of malice that the Obelisk wondered if it had all just been a joke. Still, perhaps there was more to Jaden than meets the eye. Perhaps there was some darkness in there….somewhere. Probably. Eh…..

"If I can't use my spell to finish this," continued Jaden. "Then I'll just to attack and hope for the best! Take him out Tempest!" he ordered as his monster flew into the air and took aim with the blaster on its arm. It let loose a blast of blue energy that zapped through the air towards Bastion's chest.

"I reveal Magic Cylinder!" Bastion roared suddenly as two red cups emerged onto the field, with one on the left absorbing Tempest's laser beam attack. "Now your attack is negated, and your monster's 2800 points of attack comes out of your life points!"

"No way!" panicked Syrus as the crowd all simultaneously reacted with shocked expressions.

"Not lishes!" added Chumley, the man of few words during this duel apparently.

"Yes! Yes!" Crowler cheered meanwhile, jumping up and down as if he were a cheerleader. Then again, Jaden did think Crowler was a mascot when they first met. Maybe he wasn't too far off after all?

As the laser beam fired from the right cup and now soared towards Jaden, the Slifer grinned and flung his arm out. "Sorry Bastion, but I have a trap of my own! Go, Trap Jammer! Since you used a trap during the battle phase, it's effect is now negated!"

There was a spark of blue electricity which exploded the two magic cups on the field, causing it to rain pixels over the field.

"No! How can this be!" Crowler lamented now. If anyone didn't know any better, they'd all probably assume Crowler was ready to have a stroke. If only…..

"I have one final play Jaden!" Bastion called out as he flipped another face-down. "Go counter trap: Soul Overload! Now by discarding one card from my hand, I can negate all other effects activated so far during this battle!"

There were gasps from the crowd, most of them being ones of confusion. Jaden spoke up, putting everyone's thoughts into words.

"But I'd already won that exchange! Which means negating it doesn't do anything!" He shook this off. "I don't know what that was all about, but it looks like this duel is over! Finish him off Tempest!"

"That Slifer Slacker won again!" erupted Crowler, holding his head as if it were about to explode or something. Which, judging by the smoke blowing from his ears, seemed like a possibility. Man, what was this professor on?

"What a blunder by Bastion," Alexis said, shaking her head.

"Blunder?" laughed Zane from beside her. "No. Bastion just won himself the duel."

"What?"

Bastion stood calmly as Tempest fired his laser at him once more, but just as it was about to reach his chest, the laser spluttered and fizzled out.

"What the heck?" was Jaden's response. "What happened to my attack?"

"This!" roared Bastion as he slapped the last card in his hand onto his disk. Coinciding with this, Tempest let out a cry of pain as his armour and then his body began to crack. The crowd gasped once again (what else was a crowd to do really?) and Jaden spluttered in confusion until his mighty monster exploded, clouding the field with thick black holographic smoke.

There was a fresh blast of gasping and cries of confusion from the crowd as a creature emerged from the smoke. The first thing the audience could see were two large muscular arms with razor sharp nails. Then the feet appeared followed by the large wings. The creature was a large black demonic dragon creature with red veins popping out all over its body. To top it all off, the vicious beast let out a roar to clear all the smoke, and it's eyes flashed a blood red as it did so. It was definitely an intimidating beast, and wouldn't have looked out of place if Marik Ishtar has summoned it during Battle City.

Zane grinned to himself, seemingly the only one not intimidated by the new monster, instead being impressed. "The duel is over."

"What is that?" was all that Jaden could bring himself to say.

Van'Dalgyon The Dark Dragon Lord: Attack 2800

"Van'Dalgyon The Dark Dragon Lord," Bastion said, folding his arms. "This monster has a very special power. You see, when I use a counter trap to negate an effect of yours, I can special summon him from my hand."

Jaden's eyes widened in realisation. "That's why you used your Soul Overload even though it didn't actually change anything. You just needed to use a counter trap. Which means Magic Cylinder was a decoy!"

Bastion nodded. "Not to mention, when Van'Dalgyon is summoned this way, it also gains an effect based on what effect I negated with my counter trap. Since I stopped a trap, I got to destroy one monster on your field."

"Nice move," Jaden said with a smile grin. "But this isn't over yet. I can still normal summon this turn!" He took hold of Winged Kuriboh in his hand, preparing to play it. "So I'll end my battle phase so I can summon W-"

"Sorry Jaden but the duel is over 'cause I still have one final face down card!" yelled Bastion proudly. "The quick-play spell Strike Back! It let's me conduct a battle phase of my own at the end of your battle phase! So Van'Dalgyon can launch a direct attack before you can summon anything else!"

"Jaden….lost…." Alexis muttered to herself in disbelief.

"Jaden….lost….." echoed Syrus from his place in the stands. It was hard to swallow. Against Zane, it was the expected outcome, but in this duel…...things were different. The odds were different. Yet for the first time this year, the end result of one of Jaden's duels didn't go the way it seemed it should have.

"Funeral March of the Dark Ruler!" Bastion cried, flinging his arm into the air. He had heard Yugi Moto use this attack name for this very monster in a tournament, so it seemed fitting that he use it as well. His dragon allowed pure dark energy to build up in its mouth before unleashing it in a blast that surged towards Jaden and knocked him back.

Jaden: 0800-0000

 **Winner: Bastion**

* * *

The crowd was silent for a moment before applauding for the winner of the duel. The Obelisks seemed to be the only people not overly enthusiastic with the win, even though one of their doormates was the winner. Apparently they'd noticed Bastion's change in persona during the duel too and had taken that as a sleight against them. In fact, they basically all began clearing out as soon as the duel was over. Only really Zane, Alexis and a smattering of a few other blues remained. They really did all have their heads shoved firmly up their own asses.

"Both of these kids show promise," Zane said with a genuine smile of respect. "I may have something to look forward to this year after all." Alexis could only really nod in a agreement. She knew already that Jaden was something special, but Bastion had really proven himself with this duel too. Perhaps he was more than just a know-it-all.

Jaden seemed stunned for a moment, but he held his head high and a smirk slowly began to form on his face as Bastion approached him.

"Man, that was a killer final move," the Slifer complimented as he firmly shook Bastion's hand. "I really thought I had you beat there for a second. But then you got that Card of Demise and then there was Van'Dalgyon and then…."

Bastion allowed Jaden to prattle on for a bit about the duel as he continued to shake his hand. There was something almost intoxicating about Jaden's happy-go-lucky persona. He had just lost in an incredibly intense battle yet he was still flying high. It was hard not to like the kid really. He wondered how Chazz and Crowler had made a hobby out of it basically. Speaking of which…..

Crowler bounced over to them, literally skipping in joy as he announced Bastion's victory. He even snapped off some snide comments to Jaden's detriment, but the HERO duelist either didn't care or didn't pick up on them. Sheppard himself spoke up eventually as well to congratulate Bastion but the Obelisk in truth hadn't really been listening to any of this.

Instead, he had been examining the crowd. He had glanced at the few Obelisk's that had remained before moving on to the cheering sections of Ras and Slifers. They appeared to have mostly been on Jaden's side for the duel, which made sense really. The Slifers were looked down upon, so it made sense to cheer for their star duelist. The Ras also probably leaned towards Jaden since Bastion had left them to move on to bigger and better things. He could understand why some of his classmates might resent him for moving up so quickly. But at the same time it hurt a little bit. Bastion would need to remedy all of this. Right now, we wasn't really beloved by anyone besides his direct friends. There were neutrals here and there but he could tell that the academy wasn't really on his side.

'But I will rise up nonetheless,' he thought as he held up a fist in triumph and the crowd (seemingly reluctantly) applauded once again for the victor of the duel, Jaden included. 'I'll show them all my strength. I'll gain all of their respect. No more pretending to be anything else, I'll rise to the top with my own strength, just like Jaden. I'll prove to them all that I can be the best.' He turned to where Zane stood, and their eyes met. There appeared to be a mutual agreement between the two - they would fight before the year was out.

As Zane turned and left the arena, so too did Bastion. 'My win over Jaden is just the beginning. No longer shall I be someone who stands on the sidelines, watching others rise up and achieve victory. No longer shall I settle for mediocrity. I will push myself to the limit and reach new heights. I will prove myself to everyone. I will next win The School Duel and send my opponent back to the North defeated. I will be great.'

And somewhere far away, somehow, through some unknown means, a figure could seemingly hear Bastions' thoughts. It opened it's eyes...and it smiled it's ugly malevolent smile.

* * *

 **Hope you all enjoyed that. Maybe? Just a little bit? Eh. Just a heads up, I used some manga cards here. Card of Compensation is a card from the 5D's manga, A Hero's Legacy and Spell Books from the Pot are from the GX manga and Strike Back is from Yu-Gi-Oh! R. Card of Demise has its anime effect as does Thunder Giant. I also had Fossil Dyna have it's real-world effect here. It kind of messes with canon a bit, so let's just pretend it got an erreta by the time it showed up next in the show. Also, Soul Overload, Instant-Gravity, Fusion Drop and A Hero's Sacrifice are my own made up cards. Hopefully the rest of the duel is right. If the response is good enough to this, I might actually do a full-story and as you can tell by the end, there's clearly some other stuff going on besides Bastion getting a second lease on life. But I mainly wanted to get in some practise before getting back into the full-swing of things. Oddly enough, my first one-shot could very well become a series later on. Go-figure. Anyways, if anyone has any questions about this just shoot me a PM I suppose. Would love to hear some feedback via reviews too if anyone has the time. See you all next time and remember to Get Your Game On! **


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